Crisis: the action-packed Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller

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Introducing Luke Carlton - ex-Special Boat Service commando, and now under contract to MI6 for some of its most dangerous missions. Generally good plot, but the style was a little too 'tell', rather than 'show' for me - I realise there are things that need to be explained, but the way it was done spoiled the flow, making this thriller a little less thrilling. Awarded an OBE in 2005 for services to journalism, Frank Gardner was profiled in the BBC's television series, Who Do You Think You Are? Again, I understand that Gardner is trying hard to keep things within the bounds of the plausible, and ex-SBS officer Carlton fits that mold to a tee. The lead up to the last two chapters had me squirming in my seat wondering what the hell would happen next, only to then turn the page and read a very underwhelming ending.

I didn’t find many of the characters to be overdrawn or caricature-like, which in itself was refreshing. The US, and particularly the UK, have been interfering with his narcotics business for far too long, and it has cost him too much money to carry on doing nothing about it. Unfortunately by introducing her and then finding ways to shoehorn her into the plot, all Gardner does is slow down the narrative unnecessarily, add yet another unrealistic and ultimately superfluous, yet entirely predictable, subplot (from the moment in the opening chapters that you find out Elise knows martial arts you’re just waiting for her to be placed in a situation where she needs to use them) and irritate the reader. But, that aside, most of what Gardner gives us defies belief, provides too much detail and not enough characterisation.Introducing Luke Carlton – ex-Special Boat Service commando, and now under contract to MI6 for some of its most dangerous missions.

I also enjoyed the fact that Luke’s personal history was where a lot of his talents lay – having spent much of his childhood in South America it made sense he knew the local scenes, customs and languages very well. I would strongly suggest sticking with the book if you find the beginning a little slow – the action definitely intensifies as the story progresses and I found this a real page-turning thriller the further I went. With impeccable Spanish from a large part of his childhood spent in South America and a razor-sharp mind, Luke is happy to see where this leads him. Its a shame therefore, that such details are wasted on a plot that never feels entirely credible, lead characters who are either bland, misconceived or one dimensional and some very questionable decisions regarding both pacing of the story and individual dramatic developments. I have just finished reading Crisis and I feel cheated, not just by Transworld, Penguin and Bantam Books but also Frederick Forsythe for his glowing recommendation (I can only assume that Fred took his review fee without actually troubling himself with reading it - a very smart move !When SIS operative Jeremy Benton is murdered in Tumaco, Colombia, ex-SBS and ‘probationary’ agent Luke Carlton, who spent his childhood growing up in Colombia, is despatched to investigate. It probably helps that I massively respect Frank Gardner already, but it was incredibly believable, gripping and very well written. I felt for Elise a bit in this novel, you could feel her pain as she hardly knew where her boyfriend kept dissappearing to and just when she thought he was back for good, he was off on another mission. It is from the Frederick Forsyth school of thriller writing – a brilliantly fashioned, but unlikely tale – executed by an adrenaline-fuelled cast of characters.

I felt a bit more of a connection with the setting of this novel as it is based in London and that is where I am living at the moment. The only bit of the plot I didn’t find far fetched was the idea of smuggling a weapon of mass destruction into the UK. He is seconded to MI6 on a trial basis and, because he speaks fluent Spanish, is sent to Colombia to investigate when an MI6 officer is murdered while investigating one of the most notorious drugs gangs.For those of you who do not know, Frank was severely wounded in an Al Qaeda attack in Yemen in 2004 – his cameraman was killed, and he was left for dead with eleven bullets in him. I agree with the last three but I think accuracy brought detailing and detailing stopped it from being fast. The technical information is so injudiciously rationed that reading it feels like getting waterboarded by Q. The book is peppered with excessive detail, unnecessary exposition and minor characters who could be excised entirely. What might have helped though, would have been a central character with enough charisma or complexity to let the reader overlook the inherent implausibility of the villainous conspiracy.

Frank Gardner however, whilst not resorting to Le Carre-style kitchen-sink realism, definitely wants the reader to feel they’re being shown an accurate portrayal of contemporary intelligence gathering and espionage, not a world of tricked-out Aston Martins and bikini-clad babes (the former even gets a jokey reference in the book’s dialogue, as if the author was trying to make a none-too-subtle point). Luke Carlton is the protagonist, an ex-Special Forces officer who has gone to work for MI6, Britain’s foreign intelligence gathering service. We don’t need to spend time with the man organising the Rememberance Sunday ceremony at the Cenotaph, or need to know so much about the welder working for the bad guys to help them build their bomb (another entirely unrealistic character).

I was hooked from start to finish: fast-paced, action-packed, thrilling, full of suspense and drama this book has it all. The idea of a Colombian drug lord, incensed by successful, British lead attempts to curtail his business, scheming with the North Koreans to set off a nuclear dirty-bomb in the UK sounds like the stuff of a lesser Bond movie, and if the rest of Crisis was similarly fantastical it might have worked as a plot hook. Luke figures with his personal knowledge, some good connections and his military training there shouldn’t be a problem, only Luke didn’t realize just how powerful and ruthless his enemies are – or how far they’re willing to go to achieve their objective. Another example of this comes later in the book, when we are supposed to believe that a pair of Colombian gangsters from the barrio would be able to navigate a make-shift mini-submarine with pin point accuracy, at night, through Force 5 seas to a tiny Cornish beach and arrive spot on time to make their rendezvous. With his extended stint in the military, it made sense he could handle himself in a rough situation and had plenty of organizational skills and a sharp mind.